Collectors Press's classic pin-up collections
Jeepers Peepers !
Peek-A-View vols.1 & 2
Calendar Girl
For The Boys
(2000 thru 2007 - Collectors Press)

Note that this publisher also produced the Artist Archives series, but we decided that that was substantial enough to leave with its own separate entry. The books here are ranked with the best presentation at the top and the least so down at the bottom.

Jeepers Peepers ! (2006) This is a great book to have, despite its small 5-by-6.5-inches size. 53 of its 174 pages have two or three pin-up images each and might only impress as splashes of color, but the 103 pages where a single image takes up almost all of the page are beautiful. These pin-ups are divided up into chaptered groupings: Nudes, Playful & Sporty, Swimsuit & Seaside, Exotic, Indian Maidens-Pirates-&-Gypsies, Sheer Beauties and Glamour. These groupings might seem analogous to the similar ones used in the full-size, thin, ARTIST ARCHIVES books put out by the same publisher, but there isn't any kind of one-to-one inclusion of those books here, though there are many repeated images. All the images are accompanied by a caption detailing the artist, origination year and the tongue-in-cheek title (but at least one error was found among them). The artists getting large reproductions are: Arnold Armitage (2), Rolf Armstrong (4), James Arthur, Vaughan Bass, Margaret Brundage*, Al Brulé, C. Bosseron Chambers, Henry Clive, Edward D'Ancona, Billy DeVorss (11), Armando Drechsler, Peter Driben*, Edward M. Eggleston (5), Gil Elvgren (16)***, Jules Erbit (8), Art Frahm (10), Pearl Frush (3), F.R. Harper, Hy Hintermeister, Mabel Rollins Harris (2), C. Hott, Robert C. Kaufman, Zula Kenyon, Bill Medcalf, Earl Moran (2), Zoe Mozert (2), Arthur L. Muscon, Homer S. Nelson, Walt Otto, Irene Patten, Gene Pressler, Arthur Sarnoff (2), Charles Showalter (2), Haddon Sundblom*, Ted Williams & UNKNOWN ARTIST (15).

* - Note that the 'well-presented' pieces here by Sundblom, Brundage, and Driben, can additionally be found so in their own collections on The List.

*** - Note that in regards to the 'well-presented' pieces here by Elvgren, some, but not all, can additionally be found so in his own collections on The List.

Peek-A-View vols.1 & 2 (2007) (both sub-titled SEXY PAINTINGS FROM THE '30s - '60s) I'm really impressed with these books, though they're not the absolute best-presented collections of classic pin-up art on The List. Compact, with their 8.5-by-10-inches size, each straight-forwardly presenting 50 choice full-page art pieces in isolation (the facing page is blank). The reproduction quality seems great and the resulting colorful volumes seem to work as a wholesome exercise with even the handful of 'artful' nudes falling into line. Each plate is presented 'clean' and without page numbers. There is in each a two-page thumbnails section that identifies artist, title and creation year of each image. (Distressingly, I saw in their credits "Showalter (A.K.A. Hadden Sundblom)" as if the two names referred to the same man, but that doesn't seem to be accurate - rather Charles Showalter is noted elsewhere on the 'net' as a student of Sundblom.) The artists featured in vol.1 are: Arnold Armitage (2), Rolf Armstrong (4), Vaughan Bass, Roy Best , Harry C. Bradley (2), Frederick Brunner, Edward D'Ancona, Billy DeVorss (5), Gil Elvgren (10)***, Jules Erbit (4), Art Frahm (2), Pearl Frush, M. Miller, Earl Moran (3), Zoë Mozert, K.O. Munson, Irene Patten, Laurette Patten, Arthur Sarnoff, Charles Showalter (2), Haddon Sundblom*, T.N. Thompson (3) and Jack Wittrup.

* - Note that the 'well-presented' piece here by Sundblom can additionally be found so in his own collection on The List.

*** - Note that in regards to the 'well-presented' pieces here by Elvgren, some, but not all, can additionally be found so in his own collections on The List.

And those appearing in vol.2 are: Arnold Armitage, Rolf Armstrong (4), Roy Best, Al Buell (2), Billy DeVorss (5), Edward M. Eggleston, Harry Ekman, Gil Elvgren (11)***, Merlin Enabnit, Jules Erbit (2), Art Frahm (4), Billy Lane, Earl MacPherson, Earl Moran (5), Walt Otto, Arthur Sarnoff, Haddon Sundblom**, T.N. Thompson (4) and UNKNOWN ARTIST.

** - Note that the 'well-presented' piece here by Sundblom cannot additionally be found so in his own collection on The List.

*** - Note that in regards to the 'well-presented' pieces here by Elvgren, some, but not all, can additionally be found so in his own collections on The List.

Calendar Girl (2003) (by Max Allan Collins) Subtitled SWEET & SEXY PIN-UPS OF THE POSTWAR ERA, this larger book (10-by-13 inches) seems to take 33 particular pin-up calendars produced between 1943 and 1958 and present every page of them, re-shuffled to be grouped by month-of-the-year. A big deal seems to be made in the text about how the "sketch-pad" pin-up calendar caught fire after the war and produced many imitators, but the selected calendars are not all of the sketch-pad type (which is just fine with me. . .). So, the main body of the book is 112 pages of these calendar sheets presenting two, three or four to a page (all laid out against a different pastel color in each month section. None of the images are particularly credited with its artist's name. There are also 12 large reproductions not crowded by other images. Those 'well-presented' artists are: Freeman Elliott, Gil Elvgren (2)***, Earl Moran (2), K.O. Munson, Bill Randall (4), J. Frederick Smith and T.N. Thompson. All the nudity seems to be of the just barely covered-up type, so as not to actually display anything considered objectionable by some. In the final analysis, I would ask for more focus on large reproductions and could have lived without all the additional calendar folderol.

*** - Note that in regards to the 'well-presented' pieces here by Elvgren, some, but not all, can additionally be found so in his own collections on The List.

For The Boys (2003) (by Max Allan Collins) Subtilted THE RACY PIN-UPS OF WORLD WAR II, at 13-by-10-inches this is a larger-than-usual collection of classic pin-up materials. It's 144 pages, which is only slightly thicker than the ideal 'window' for its size. Several factors contribute to it ranking pretty low on The List. Nearly 40 of the pages are used to present multiple photos of the pin-up art as it was applied to the noses of fighter aircraft or the jackets of their airmen. While it is fascinating to witness how these warriors used this form of expression to deal with their situation, it just isn't able to be a good presentation of that art itself (and some of the copying talent on display is good, some not-so-good). Another dozen pages are photographs of other aspects of military life where the new pin-up art-form inserted itself. Another 17 pages are mostly text, some with thumbnail artwork images. That leaves 63 pages presenting the pin-up artwork itself, mostly in a cramped, busy, over-designed fashion. Only 20 of those pages are dominated by a large art-piece reproduction, the rest being collections of multiple smaller images (and many of those are of artwork in their promotional forms, like matchbook covers . . . small, small matchbook covers . . .). Finally, none of the artwork images are credited to their respective artists. From what I can identify, the 'well-presented' artists are: Rolf Armstrong, Peter Driben, Gil Elvgren (8)***, Earl MacPherson (2), Earl Moran (4), K.O. Munson (2) and UNKNOWN ARTIST (2).

*** - Note that in regards to the 'well-presented' pieces here by Elvgren, some, but not all, can additionally be found so in his own collections on The List.

other Classic Pin-Up Art collections

Classic Pin-Ups - Art Fantastix Präsentiert series